Familiarity Breeds Insanity
by Medie Shanachie
Summary: Lorne knew he should stop agreeing to these insane ideas. First Strike Missing Scene


_Author's Note: Lorne, Sheppard, McKay, Ellis, the Apollo, Chuck and Atlantis belong to MGM and SciFi. Aiden, Murray, and Wall belong to me. MAJOR spoilers for "First Stike" (d'oh), minor ones for "Conversion" and my own story, "Stonehenge Secret"._

_This came about because I thought there was quite a bit missing from the season three finale, most notably how Sheppard convinces Lorne to go along with what everyone seems to think is an insane plan. Plus there's absolutely no reaction from the scientists about being shipped up to the Apollo. Plus I sorta answered the question of why Lorne has a Deadalus patch (in a round about way but if you blink you'll miss how I answered it)._

_Not really beta'ed but hopefully we caught all the mistakes when we read it over this weekend. I don't like the title so if anyone has a suggestion, let me know._

* * *

Lorne ducked as something went flying past his head through the open doorway. He bent down and scooped it up, discovering that it a book. Aiden must really be in a snit if she was throwing books around. He flipped it over and winced when he realized it was one of his. She was mad at him if it was his possessions she was abusing. Sighing, he stepped through the doorway and into the war zone.

There weren't any bullets flying, but Lorne would have felt safer with his pistol. Wall was pressed up against the door jam, watching Aiden create havoc with wide-eyes. Lorne figured he might have had the same reaction upon walking into the room, if it had been the first time he had seen Aiden in a temper. Clothes, books, DVD cases, and other miscellaneous possessions were strewn around the room. In the middle of the disaster stood Aiden, stuffing things into a duffel with short jerky movements as she ranted. At the moment, her chosen language was German, which Lorne recognized mostly because he heard it every time she started yelling. It seemed to be one of Aiden's favorite languages to rant in.

Lorne touched Wall's arm, pulling the Marine's attention away from the rampaging linguist. "I'll deal with her," he told the younger man.

A look of relief crossed the Marine's face, but quickly vanished. "Are you sure?" he asked.

Lorne waved him off. "Go. You've got things to do before transport. I'll snap her out of this and get her moving."

Wall pointed to his watch, which like all of them showed the countdown. "She doesn't have much time."

Lorne nodded. "She'll be ready. Just go get yourself and Murray packed. I'll make sure she gets to the 'gate room on time." Wall saluted in answer, something the young Marine rarely did, and jogged off down the hall. As he started to turn the corner, Lorne yelled after him, "And don't let Murray pack more than five bricks of C-4!"

Wall waved to show he had heard before disappearing around the corner. Lorne turned back to face the disaster that was his quarters and his irate girlfriend. She hadn't acknowledged him yet, but he was sure she was aware of his presence. She was ignoring him because she was mad at him. She glanced over at him just as another book left her hand and came winging towards his head. She put an innocent look on her face as he batted it away. "Oops, sorry, Evan. Didn't see you there."

Lorne picked up the book and tossed it on the couch, figuring at this point it didn't make much sense to put it away. The bookshelves were within her reach and it would just give her more ammunition. "Sure you didn't," he replied. "You want to explain why you're scaring Wall to death? We've got enough problems without you going loco on me."

"I'm not going loco," Aiden replied as she went into the bedroom. She emerged a moment later with some clothes in her hands that went immediately into the duffel. "I'm doing what you told me. I'm packing to be transported to the _Apollo_."

He looked around the room; no it hadn't changed. She had obviously had a major temper tantrum. "Which is why our quarters are now a disaster area and you're swearing in German and scaring the shit out of Wall."

She paused in her packing and looked around the room. "I am sorry about that. I didn't mean to scare Wall. Where'd he go?"

"I sent him to finish packing himself and Murray. Figured it was safer for you to have the target you were actually mad at to throw things at." He cleared off the couch, not really worried about where things fell since the room was pretty much a lost cause at the moment anyway. "Are you calm enough to come sit with me and tell me what your problem is?"

She shook her head. "No. I'm still pissed at you."

Lorne dropped onto the couch and ran his hands through his hair, wishing he had time to take a nap or at least just take his boots off. Unfortunately it didn't look like they'd get a break anytime soon. McKay's big idea to submerge the city hadn't bought them more than a few hours and that's why Aiden was having this snit. All non-essential personal had been ordered to pack and prepare for transport to the iApollo/i. The Marines had done as ordered because they were Marines, but there had been a little more trouble with the civilians. The majority of them were complaining about experiments left mid-test, but Lorne had a feeling that Aiden's problem was a little more personal. Her work was easy enough to pack up and, since he had already swung by her lab and seen it packed and cleaned, it wasn't her work that had caused this snit. "Aiden, just come sit for a minute," he begged.

She turned to face him and this time she actually seemed to look at him. Crossing the room carefully to avoid tripping on any of the things she had strewn around, she dropped onto the couch next to him. Snuggling up next to him, she draped her arm across his stomach. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm not making this easy for you, am I?"

He had to chuckle at that. "You haven't been making life easy for me since I pulled you out from under that console in the lower levels." He brushed a lock of hair away from her face and laid a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Want to explain what caused this meltdown? Its been a while since you've had one that's trashed our quarters."

"I've never trashed our quarters," she protested. "I prefer to trash my lab, then I can make someone else clean it up."

"You have trashed our quarters, but stop trying to change the subject. What's wrong?"

"Who made the decision about which personal goes with the _Apollo_?" she asked quietly.

"Sheppard and I did for the Marines and the Air Force personal. Weir and some of the department heads did for the civilians," Lorne answered, finally beginning to see where she was going and also what was upsetting her. "You thought I was the one who decided you were going, didn't you?"

"I thought you were sending me away."

"I'll admit I'm happy you're going because I'm not entirely sure even McKay can pull another rabbit out of his ass, but I'm not sending you away. Weir wanted you to stay since you're the only one other than her that can read Ancient so easily. Sheppard insisted that you go to the _Apollo_ because of that very reason though. If they run into trouble, they may need someone who can read Ancient."

"So I'm not 'non-essential' personal?" she questioned.

"You are in the sense that we don't want you on Atlantis if something goes pear-shaped. You aren't in that you will never be non-essential to me." He hugged her tighter against him. "Besides who else could keep Deke in line? I'm not going to be there and we both know none of the Marines can do it. Can you just see him? He's crash the system on the _Apollo_ the first time someone pisses him off and then where will all of you be?"

"Knowing Deke? Out of gravity and every other thing he can think of to piss off the soliders which will domino from there. Okay, I got it. I'm not just going because I'm non-essential."

Lorne sighed. "I'd really like to know who told you only non-essential people were going on the _Apollo_ because we were trying to split up the departments just in case we lost people. Yes, we're sending pretty much everyone from your department, but that's because I don't think we're going to need to read anything new while we're trying to save the city. We _are_ going to need your team when we get to the new planet though."

"I know, Evan, and I am sorry I had a tantrum. If you're trying to split up the departments, why are both you and Sheppard staying?"

Lorne leaned his head against the back of the couch and tried to figure out how to answer her. He wasn't sure himself why they were both staying, but Sheppard had said stay and he had agreed without giving it a second thought. Mostly because if he was here with Sheppard at least he wouldn't be the one to send out the SAR team after Sheppard. He had opened his mouth to answer her when the door chime sounded. "Hold that thought," he told her before calling, "Come in." At the moment he just wasn't interested in moving. He wasn't going to have much time to sit once the shit hit the fan and he was going to take every moment he had now, especially if it meant he could continue holding Aiden. He had no idea when or if he would ever get the chance again.

The door slid open to reveal Sheppard and Lorne tried to straighten up, but Aiden had settled all of her body weight against him and he couldn't move. Sheppard waved him back down before he could even really start the movement and looked around the room. "Did you have a mini-hurricane?" he asked.

"No," Lorne replied, "Just a pissed off linguist."

"Ah." Sheppard looked around for a minute, obviously trying to figure out the best place to sit. Finally he indicated a chair. "Can I move that stuff?"

"Just set it on the floor," Aiden replied. "Did you need Evan for something?"

Sheppard used the few minutes it took him to clear off the chair to think. He knew what he was about to ask Lorne to do was dangerous, which was why he was going to phrase it as a request rather than an order. He had hoped to catch the major alone, but since he figured sooner or later the linguist would find out about it, it was probably easier to talk to them both at once. He just wasn't exactly sure how to explain their crazy idea to the other officer. Finally he sat down in the chair and looked his XO in the eye. "Rodney and I came up with a plan that we think will save the city. We need your help."

Lorne raised his eyebrows. "My help?"

Sheppard nodded. "Our idea is that you'll take a flight of 302s from the iApollo/i up to one of the asteroids. Tether it up and haul it into the path of the beam. That should disrupt it long enough for us to get the star drive fired up and get the city into space. Rodney thinks we can siphon off enough energy from the power station to get us away," Sheppard explained.

Lorne refrained from blurting out his first thought upon hearing the plan which was iare you nuts?!/i He already knew Sheppard was crazy and this wasn't the most insane plan he had ever concocted. "Are you sure that's safe?" he asked instead.

Sheppard shrugged and Lorne realized the other officer must be as tired as he was if not worse off. Both of them had been running on adrenaline and coffee for too many hours and it didn't look like that was going to change anytime soon. "I'm open to suggestions," Sheppard replied. "But if we don't do something soon, we're all going to need gills to breathe. Those of us that survive." He looked Lorne dead in the eye. "It's not an order. I can make it one if it'll make you feel better though. This is your choice."

"You're nug bucking futs, you know that, right?" Aiden broke-in.

"Aiden!" Lorne yelped at the same time as Sheppard said, "What?"

Aiden giggled at the shocked looks on both officers' faces as Lorne translated, "She called you bug fucking nuts." He paused, then added, "Sir."

Sheppard shook his head. "Nah-ah. No way. I'm nuts, but I am definitely not buggy!"

Aiden looked confused so Lorne patted her on the knee and said, "I'll explain later. You must not have read that AAR."

Aiden shook her head. "Insane. The whole lot of you." With this declaration made, she kissed Lorne on the cheek and got up. Scooping up the duffel she had been packing, she disappeared into the bedroom.

Lorne watched her go and then turned to Sheppard, not quite sure what to say to his CO. He had, of course, been thinking that Sheppard was nuts, but he had enough self preservation to keep his mouth shut about it. It looked like it was time to have another talk with Aiden about the filter she was supposed to have between her brain and her mouth. "Sorry, Sir," he said when he was sure Aiden was staying in the bedroom.

Sheppard waved it off. "Its not the first time I've been called nuts. At least she does it to my face." He grinned at Lorne. "And I think she was including you in that statement."

Lorne groaned. "I know she was." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "So assuming I agree to this; did you get Colonel Ellis to agree to me taking a flight?"

Sheppard grimaced. "Sort of. He also conveyed the impression that he thought we were nuts. Of course he also seems to have a strong dislike of Rodney, but I think I've sold him on the idea."

"I'm taking _Apollo_ pilots?" Lorne confirmed.

Sheppard nodded in response. "We don't have enough pilots here that are qualified on 302s."

"You think we're going to attract attention from the Replicators taking a flight to the asteroids?"

"As far as they know all we have are the jumpers so no I don't think so. They can't send anything else through the wormhole right now anyway. At least according to Rodney."

"Will I be staying on the _Apollo_ afterwords and going to the rendezvous site with them?"

Sheppard nodded again. "Yeah. There won't be any way to get you back to Atlantis before we jump to hyperspace. Sorry about that. I would have liked to have you here."

Lorne shrugged. "It's not a problem. I'd rather not send a SAR team after you though."

Sheppard grinned. "I'll try not to need one this time."

"I'll need a few minutes to throw somethings in a duffel and I'll be ready to beam up with the next group."

"No, you won't," Aiden's voice came from the doorway of their bedroom. Both men spun around to look at her. She had two duffels in her hand now, the one she had taken in with her and one Lorne recognized as his. "I already packed your things. You'll just need to change into your flight suit."

Lorne smiled at her. She might think they were insane, but she wasn't going to try to stop him either. "Thanks, Aiden," he told her.

Sheppard pushed himself to his feet and stretched, cracking his back. "Report to the 'gate room ASAP. The last group leaves in a few minutes."

Lorne nodded. "Aiden was headed up with that group along with Wall and Murray. We'll be there."

"Good luck, Major." Sheppard paused just before exiting his XO's quarters. "And thanks. I don't know if Ellis would have agreed to this without me sending you." Sheppard waved to Aiden and left before Lorne could form a reply.

"You'd better change," Aiden broke the silence after a moment.

Lorne heaved himself to his feet and walked towards her, already stripping off his clothes. "Are you okay with this?" he asked.

She snorted as she turned to face him. "Now you ask?"

"Okay so my question could have been timed better," he replied. "Are you?"

She gave a half-hearted shrug. "As okay as I am every other time you've gone somewhere without me. You're military, Evan. I knew that the first time I kissed you. You wouldn't be iyou/i if you weren't." She held up a hand to stop whatever he was about to say. "I realize that made no sense. Just try to come back to me."

Lorne put his hand on the back of her neck and drew her to him, kissing her softly. "I'll try my damndest," he told her, resting his forehead against hers.

They stood together for a few moments, but all too soon Aiden pulled away. "We'd better get going," she whispered.

He didn't say anything in reply, but took both duffels from her; slinging them over his shoulder. After they exited their quarters, Lorne took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers and squeezing gently when she tried to pull away. Aiden looked at him in surprise. After almost a year, most of the Lanteans knew they were a couple, but they tried to be circumspect when Lorne was officially on duty. He let go of her hand as they exited the transporter by the 'gate room and hurried into the controlled chaos.

Lorne handed their duffels off to Wall as Aiden accepted the computer tablet someone had shoved into her hands. She read it quickly, then scrawled her signature across the bottom and handed it back. "Everything okay?" Lorne asked as she joined the group that was beaming up.

She nodded. "Fine. Just a couple of reports that weren't ready earlier. Where are Deke and McFadden?"

"They went up with the last group," he answered.

"Major!"

Both Lorne and Aiden swung around as they heard Doctor McKay calling Lorne. "What is it, Doc?" Lorne asked the astrophysicist hurrying towards them

"Sheppard explained the plan to you? You know what you're doing?" McKay's rapid fire delivery would normally annoy Lorne, but today he completely understood the stress.

"Yeah, Doc, I got it. Now you better step back. It looks like everyone's ready to go."

McKay looked around at the Marines and civilians that had been milling around in front of the 'gate, but were now standing still waiting to be beamed up to the iApollo/i. "Hurry up," McKay snapped at Chuck as he retreated up the stairs. "Let the _Apollo_ know they're ready. We _are_ on a time schedule here."

Lorne restrained himself from rolling his eyes or smirking until he felt the familiar grasp of the transporter. As many times as he had been transported, there was still a moment of disorientation when he rematerialized. He shook his head to clear it, then looked around to orient himself to the ship.

Aiden had latched onto the back of Murray's tac vest with both hands, probably within seconds of rematerializing, and was talking to Wall. When she noticed Lorne looking at her, she grinned. "I'm going to get Murray and Wall settled in their quarters. Better to make sure Murray isn't wandering into mischief on his own," she called over, "and then find McFadden and Deke and my linguists. Good luck."

"Take away Murray's C-4," Lorne ordered as an iApollo/i crewman hurried up to him. "Yes, Lieutenant?"

The crewman straightened up and made an aborted salute when Lorne just stared at him. "Sir, Captain Ellis would like to see you, Sir."

Lorne nodded. "Lead on."

The man executed a textbook about face and Lorne grimaced. It looked like Ellis was a more by-the-book captain then Caldwell. It seemed like it was just as well he was the one leading the flight and not Sheppard. As he followed the crewman from the cargo bay they had beamed into, he turned for one last look at Aiden. She sent him an encouraging grin when she saw him looking, but didn't pause her conversation with the two Marines to call out anything.

Ellis looked up from the report he was reading as his crewman returned with a dark haired major in tow. The major stopped short of the command chair and saluted. "Major Lorne reporting as requested, Sir," he snapped.

Ellis looked the major over as he handed the computer tablet off to his XO. The man wasn't precisely what he was expecting. There was none of Sheppard's slouch or insubordination in his demeanor, but Ellis assumed Sheppard had filled the major in on Ellis himself and if those traits were normally present, the major was hiding them well. "At ease, Major," he replied. "I assume Colonel Sheppard gave you your orders."

"He did, Sir," Lorne confirmed, refraining from mentioning that it had been a request from Sheppard and not an order. "If your pilots are ready to go, so am I."

Ellis considered telling the man he though Sheppard was crazy, but Lorne had been the Atlantis XO for two years and probably already had his own opinion. Ellis also suspected that only a man totally loyal to his superior would follow a cockamamie plan like the one Sheppard and that scientist had concocted. "The pilots are in hanger bay alpha," Ellis informed him. "The lieutenant will escort you there. The 302s are already prepped and ready."

Lorne saluted again. "Thank you, Sir." He executed his own about face; maybe it wasn't as textbook as the lieutenant's but it had been years since he had encountered this much military discipline, and followed the junior officer from the bridge.

Alpha was the closest hanger bay to the bridge, but it still took longer than Lorne would have liked to travel the distance. "Into your planes, people," he ordered as he cleared the threshold of the bay. "I'll brief you when we're away. We're on a very tight time table." Accepting his helmet from the waiting crewman, he led by example and sprinted up the ladder, dropping quickly into the cockpit. He ran through the quickest pre-flight of his career before requesting launch permission. _I hope this works,_ he thought as he led the flight out of the bay, _or we are seriously screwed._


End file.
